Cannot remove smitfraud-c.coreservice

I run on Windows XP and sometime around Friday was bombarded with a load of pop-up ads. Immediately went about running Spybot and Adaware but couldn't seem to get rid of the problem and they just kept coming. I'm a firefox user but all the windows popping up seem to be in explorer...which I never use. Alot of the time they are blank but sometimes they are general add sites or sites with videos playing(I get sound a good few minuets before the window shows...or just get random audio with nothing running) as well as other pop-up adds. It also seems to be inviting all its nasty friends to play since I keep running all these things and ending up with new stuff in no time at all! After some googling and such I'm guessing my main problem is smitfraud-c.coreservice...and I cannot get rid of it!

I'm not overly good with technical things myself but can usually fumble about alright...I do have a more experienced friend willing to help me with logmein though and we need help! We tried to rename the file core.cache.dsk in safemode but it didn't work...it just seemed to re-create itself upon reboot. I couldn't even find the core.sys file which I've seen mentioned. I ran hijackthis and will post that below...hoping to get any help I can!

Let me know if I left anything out or did somethig wrong...sometimes I fumble.

Make sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, then click Finish.

If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.

Once the program has loaded, select "Perform Quick Scan", then click Scan.

The scan may take some time to finish,so please be patient.

When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results.

Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected.

When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.(See Extra Note)

The log is automatically saved by MBAM and can be viewed by clicking the Logs tab in MBAM.

Copy&Paste the entire report in your next reply.

Extra Note:

If MBAM encounters a file that is difficult to remove,you will be presented with 1 of 2 prompts,click OK to either and let MBAM proceed with the disinfection process. If asked to restart the computer, please do so immediatly.

**Note: In the event you already have Combofix, this is a new version that I need you to download. It is important that it is saved directly to your desktop**

Please, never rename Combofix unless instructed.

Close any open browsers.

Close/disable all anti virus and anti malware programs so they do not interfere with the running of ComboFix.

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Very Important! Temporarily disable your anti-virus, script blocking and any anti-malware real-time protection before performing a scan. They can interfere with ComboFix or remove some of its embedded files which may cause "unpredictable results".

Click onthis linkto see a list of programs that should be disabled. The list is not all inclusive. If yours is not listed and you don't know how to disable it, please ask.

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Close any open browsers.

WARNING: Combofix will disconnect your machine from the Internet as soon as it starts

Please do not attempt to re-connect your machine back to the Internet until Combofix has completely finished.

If there is no internet connection after running Combofix, then restart your computer to restore back your connection.

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Double click on combofix.exe & follow the prompts.

Install the Recovery Console upon request.

When finished, it will produce a report for you.

Please post the "C:\ComboFix.txt" along with a new HijackThis log for further review.

**Note: Do not mouseclick combofix's window while it's running. That may cause it to stall**

I actually tried installing that last night when a friend suggested trying it...but for whatever reason I can't. I tried again to get the exact error message I receive when I get near the end of the installation.

It gives me three options, abort, retry, or ignore to proceed anyway...which is told me was a bad idea. Retry just gives me the same error. I don't know if this problem would be related or not...my computer is just not a happy camper these past two days.

*Another thing which I don't know would help but is a problem I've found is that I cannot do a system restore to just rewind the past few days. Yesterday when I tried only that day was available, and today its just today...can't go back to an earlier time at all, not even last month. Not a clue why.

*One more edit to add: My friend thought to check on my administrator privileges, just in case I was unable to register the dll for that reason. And while we couldn't access my users/groups via the computer "Manage" function, the User area via Control Panel clearly lists my login as an administrator level. The two seem almost contradictory, but I thought I'd mention them regardless.

Go to the Control Panel -> System ->Hardware ->Device Manager. Select View from the menu, then Show Hidden Devices. Under Non Plug and Play devices see if there is a device whose name starts with TDSS. If so, post the exact name as it appears therein.

I tried the first option and couldn't find what I needed, then went on to option two!

Sadly this was a bust as well, and I'm sure you're feeling as frustrated as I am at this point so thanks for the help. Anyhow, I couldn't get RunThis to work. We tried both double clicking the .bat, as well as trying to launch it from an already-opened command prompt. In both cases, the program launched and then immediately closed itself, and for the latter it closed the original cmd window along with it. Is there a way to run this program silently?

It did it first to me in normal safe mode and then I tried starting up again in safe mode with networking so I could have my friend help me through AIM since logmein refuses to work while in Safemode. The only thing I can think of that relates to this is last night when I was trying to find the core.cache.dsk and core.sys in system32 in safe mode...and after a min. or two it would close everything and send me back to the desktop. It stopped it after awhile though..and earlier this morning in safemode and now its doing nothing of the sort. This closing only seems to be the RunThis and everything else and the SDFix folder stays open. Frustrating in a word, sorry to be trouble!

Download OTScanit.exe to your Desktop and double-click on it to extract the files. It will create a folder named OTScanit on your desktop. OTScanit can be detected as malware by your firewall and Ativirus. Chose Ignore on any warning alert.

Close any open browsers.

Open the OTScanit folder and double-click on OTScanit.exe to start the program.

Leave all settings as they appear as default, except for the following:

Under Drivers, select "Non microsoft".

Under Rootkit Search, select Yes

Under additional Scan select the following:

Uncheck "Non Microsoft Only".

Reg: Botcheck

Reg: Controls sets

Reg: File Associations

Reg: Mountpoints2

Reg: Security Settings

Reg: Software Policy Settings

Now click the Run Scan button on the toolbar.

The program will be scanning huge amounts of data so depending on your system it could take a long time to complete. Let it run unhindered until it finishes.

When the scan is complete Notepad will open with the report file loaded in it.

Save that notepad file

Use the Reply button and attach the notepad file here (Do not copy and paste in a reply, rather attach it to it).

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for trying to help me with this nasty problem. Things took a quick turn for the worse and my internet plus a bunch of other things weren't working right....so I just folded and reformated. Up and running again and will hopefully be able to avoid this nasty piece of work in the future - thanks for your time!

The following is a list of tools and utilities that I like to suggest to people. This list is full of great tools and utilities to help you understand how you got infected and how to keep from getting infected again.

Spybot Search & Destroy - Uber powerful tool which can search and annhilate nasties that make it onto your system. Now with an Immunize section that will help prevent future infections.

AdAware - Another very powerful tool which searches and kills nasties that infect your system. AdAware and Spybot Search & Destroy compliment each other very well.

SpywareBlaster - Great prevention tool to keep nasties from installing on your system.

CleanUP! - Cleans temporary files from IE and Windows, empties the recycle bin and more. Great tool to help speed up your computer and knock out those nasties that like to reside in the temp folders.

Windows Updates- It is very important to make sure that both Internet Explorer and Windows are kept current with the latest critical security patches from Microsoft. To do this just start Internet Explorer and select Tools > Windows Update, and follow the online instructions from there.

Google Toolbar - Free google toolbar that allows you to use the powerful Google search engine from the bar, but also blocks pop up windows.

Trillian or Miranda-IM - These are Malware free Instant Messenger programs which allow you to connect to multiple IM services in one program! (AOL, Yahoo, ICQ, IRC, MSN)

ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT) allows you to keep a complete backup of your registry and restore it when needed. The standard registry backup options that come with Windows back up most of the registry but not all of it. ERUNT however creates a complete backup set, including the Security hive and user related sections. ERUNT is easy to use and since it creates a full backup, there are no options or choices other than to select the location of the backup files. The backup set includes a small executable that will launch the registry restore if needed.

Recovery Console - Recent trends appear to indicate that future infections will include attacks to the boot sector of the computer. The installation of the Recovery Console in the computer will be our only defense against this threat. For more information and steps to install the Recovery Console see This Article. Should you need assistance in installing the Recovery Console, please do not hesitate to ask.

To find out more information about how you got infected in the first place and some great guidelines to follow to prevent future infections you can read this article by Tony Klein and this one by Miekiemoes.